When We're Back to Back
by Kitarin
Summary: future!jump set post-ep. 25 epilogue.  Learning the art of compromise is a difficult thing when everything is different now than it was before... Can Kotetsu & Barnaby meet in the middle?


**Author's Notes:** This is a future!jump, post ep. 25 epilogue. You could consider it connected to LYHBL (it is for me), but it doesn't mention any of my previous material specifically. I've been really stressed and frazzled and bothered about a lot of things, and so this all came out in one accidental unexpected burst.

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><p>It's a mild night for February – a cocktease of a spring that's still more than a month away – but it's hard to enjoy it when Kotetsu just wants to punch something. Preferably his partner's face.<p>

The traffic is light at this late hour as they whiz through Stern Bild on the new model of the Chaser, and he grabs onto his hat as they whip around another corner. "Trying to flip us with that driving?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, old man." Barnaby revs the engine again and they shoot forward, as if in direct contradiction to his words. He's exhausted and just wants to be home already, away from all of the people.

"Whatever…" Kotetsu mutters, yanking his hat down a little further and purposefully turning away to watch the scenery instead of an infuriating rabbit.

"Are you still throwing a hissy fit over this?" Barnaby sighs heavily as they finally turn into the garage for their building, and the motorcycle and sidecar jerk to a stop in their designated space. "I don't care about a stupid magazine article and you shouldn't either."

"I don't know what you're talking about, little Bunny," Kotetsu openly mocks his partner's words as he hops lightly out of the sidecar and starts walking towards the elevator. He doesn't care about magazine articles. Not really.

What they're fighting about is stupid, mostly. Maybe it started with Kotetsu leaving the mail in a pile on the kitchen counter again or his shoes in the middle of the hallway or maybe it was Barnaby turning opera on at 3 AM last night because he couldn't sleep. Maybe it was that one night last week that Antonio practically had to carry a drunk Kotetsu home from Hero Bar and maybe it was the lecture Barnaby had received privately from Lloyds yesterday while Kotetsu was still tied up in medical. Maybe it was the argument over whether or not they could eat fried rice for the third night in a row, or the appropriateness of ruffles for the evening's work event.

Maybe, maybe, maybe…

"Now you're being an ass on _purpose_ again," Barnaby calls after him, covering the motorcycle – which is a bitch to do alone – before stalking after him. He barely makes it inside the elevator as the doors are sliding shut and the glare he turns on Kotetsu is not a pretty one. His partner was so petulant at tonight's event that even their fellow heroes had begun to look suspicious and worried.

Kotetsu is leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest and eyes rolled towards the ceiling as if he'd rather pretend Barnaby isn't even there. The elevator is mirrored, though, of course, so no matter which direction he looks, he's still seeing blond curls and infuriated, infuriating green eyes. It's rather impossible to ignore the person he's admittedly completely enamored with anyway. "… and you've been a little _bitch_ to me all day. All week. But, an oh so charming and witty host to everyone at the event tonight."

Barnaby raises a skeptical eyebrow as the elevator begins to ascend, one hand on his hip as he retorts hotly. "Are you really just angry about tonight, old man, or is something else wrong? I am not a psychic, I'll have you know."

This place called home ought to be more comforting, but they've hardly been living here for six weeks now, learning each other's quirks and intricacies, and it still feels… too new, far too new in the midst of all the same-old of their former life. _But it's not the same… it's not ever going to be the same._ "You're also not stupid, Bunny," Kotetsu grumbles as he tries to unlock the door, but the lock is the opposite way of his old apartment, he thinks, and he always ends up…

"Would you just let me get that?" Barnaby brushes his partner's hand away from the doorknob and clicks the key the correct way. The door slides open and he stalks inside, completely missing the frustrated expression on Kotetsu's face.

"Why do you do that? Why does it always have to be _your_ way?" he suddenly roars, following Barnaby inside their apartment and kicking the door shut behind them with a slam.

Surprised by the sudden volume, Barnaby's voice raises in return as he unbuttons his red suit jacket and shrugs it off, dumping it uncharacteristically over the back of a chair. "What is the matter with you? Why are you acting like this? Is this about the shoes again?"

"Why am _I_ acting like this?" Kotetsu throws his hands up in disbelief and stomps off towards their bedroom, stripping and dropping articles of clothing along the way, all of which Barnaby picks up as he follows him. "It's not about the shoes, Bunny! And I'm _not_ the one who's acting differently!"

Barnaby dumps all of the discarded clothing onto the bed, yanking off his bowtie and unbuttoning the top three buttons of his ruffled shirt. "Are you talking about tonight then? When they wanted the solo pictures of me for that article?" When Kotetsu doesn't answer, he tries again, further frustrated. "Or are you talking about the fans this afternoon? You know I can't just blow them off, old man – their support is the reason we're still on Hero TV!"

"You've always been more obsessed with your popularity than I am," Kotetsu mutters, raking a hand through his hair with a sigh. "That's not why I came back here. I'm just here trying to protect people, trying to do my job…"

"That's unfair…" Barnaby brings a hand to his forehead in a gesture of frustration, but the words also hurt. "You know I care about that too!"

"But you also care about being the _best_," Kotetsu snaps, reaching to poke Barnaby in the chest with one finger. "About being King of Heroes again."

"Of course I want us to be the best!" Barnaby knocks Kotetsu's hand away, a little harder than necessary. There's an enormous _but_ left hanging in the air and the tension between them is thick and heavy like the too-warm weather.

"You think I can't tell…" Kotetsu's voice lowers, and the words sound strained as he turns to slide open the glass door in their bedroom that leads to a balcony overlooking the city. "Why are you humoring me? No one else wants to."

"Humoring you?" Barnaby asks in genuine confusion, following Kotetsu out onto the balcony. It's windy at this height and he shivers a little, wondering how his shirtless partner can be so immune to the elements.

"I know, we're back to the old schtick, you and your sidekick – more a sidekick than ever, ne? And we're supposed to be entertainers as well as heroes? Fine, fine… but why is it…" Kotetsu pauses for a moment, struggling to admit what's really at the root of his irritation with his partner. He clenches the wrought iron of their railing until his knuckles go white. "Why is it extending beyond that? Are you really that dissatisfied with me? Are you tired of… us, already?"

"Where is this coming from?" Barnaby stares at his back, a little bit startled. "I know we've been busy, and we've argued about things, but I… I never said anything of the sort."

"You haven't called me by name in a week, Bunny… haven't called me partner for even longer!" It's more than that, even, but Kotetsu can't even bring himself to say the rest. He feels further from Barnaby right now than he did in the long months that they were apart, and that fact is slowly draining the joy out of him more than anything else ever could. _What does being together mean if it's like talking to a brick wall half the time? _"Are you telling me that means nothing…?"

It's the truth, and Barnaby knows that very well – knows they also haven't laid a hand on each other in just as long, suddenly strangers sleeping in the same bed. He knows the aloof aura he gives off when he feels this way, this stressed… "I…" He doesn't have a good enough answer for Kotetsu and he knows it. Even if he said the truth, that he's felt uncomfortable, unhappy, confused… it would only lead to more questions he doesn't want to answer about his feelings. The things they try not to talk about if they can help it, working too hard to pretend they're exactly what they appear to be on TV.

"Look, forget about _us_ for a minute," Kotetsu says with a dismissive wave of his hand as he turns around and leans casually against the railing of the balcony. Tipping his head back, he leans a little, looking up at the sky from upside down, across the circle of Stern Bild and out to sea. "Let's just talk business. I'll be honest, like you always want, and admit that I overheard the end of that chat with Lloyds… and if you don't want to be stuck with a second string partner…"

"YOU SCARED THE SHIT OUT OF ME YESTERDAY!" Barnaby finally hollers at him, as loud as he can, so loud it seems to echo off the skyscrapers around them.

Kotetsu blinks in surprise, his head dropping down and his mouth dropping into an O, but Barnaby's sudden rage doesn't give him a chance to respond.

"Of course I heard a lecture! Do you know how that day was, on my end? When that building collapsed, and I _knew_ you were already out of time? And… and then that blind moment of panic, that I couldn't get there fast enough?"

"You _did_ get there fast enough," Kotetsu corrects with a frown, lifting a hand to reach hesitantly towards his now-shaking partner.

"And next time?" Barnaby throws up his hands and goes to stalk back inside, not wanting to face the rest of this conversation, but Kotetsu catches his wrist, spins him back around.

"I'm fine, Bunny," he says seriously. "Everything's fine… and it doesn't explain…"

"Why do you _lie_ to me, old man? Still, after all this time? You walk around like everything's sunshine and rainbows, and it's NOT! You're not fine, I'm not fine, and if we don't… don't _talk_ about this…"

There's a long moment of silence where tears rise hot and heavy, making Barnaby's eyes look even glassier behind the pink-tinted frames, and Kotetsu sighs. "It is what it is, Bunny. My powers… well, I am what I am… and if you want out…"

"FOOLISH old man!" Barnaby beats the fist that's free against the warmth of his partner's bare chest. "I told Lloyds _no_! We are a team. I don't want to be a solo act, and I don't want another partner!"

"But if you had another partner," Kotetsu starts, glancing away even though he doesn't let go of Barnaby's wrist. "Someone who could keep up with you… You could really soar again… and we'd still have this… us."

Barnaby yanks his wrist free to take Kotetsu by the shoulders, shaking him roughly. "I don't want another partner, not in _any_ way, shape or form! And the fact that you would even _think_ that I do… well, I find it absolutely _exasperating_!"

"So what do we do?" Kotetsu snaps back angrily, though he makes no move to shake Barnaby off. It's the first time his partner has willingly reached out for him in many days. "I'm going to screw things up. I'm going to put my life on the line! I'm going to care too much! I'm not going to stop being a hero, Bunny, not until Apollon flat out tells me I can't, and even then… well, I'd find a way."

"And I'm not going to stop trying to _protect your foolish ass_," Barnaby retorts, but the words are laced with an affection that's been lacking for days. Perhaps they are both at fault for holding themselves back from each other in their own ways, but he always finds the real truth to be more-appealing than those half-truths, no matter how painful. "Even on the days when you seem to be _trying_ to get yourself killed."

"…then why so _cold_, Bunny? Who's not telling who the truth?" Kotetsu says softly, both hands hanging limp at his sides. His dwindling powers have not stopped being a sore point in the last month, but he refuses to let it hold him back from the things and people he cares about. Life is too short to waste any more time on self-pity. "I can take you being angry at me, blaming me…or being mean…or even sad, however much I _hate_ that… but when all I get from you off the job is this blank, going through-the-motions monotony, I just… I worry myself to death that it's my fault. That you don't really want to be here."

"It's not your fault, not really… and I don't mean to be that way… I do want to be here…" Barnaby bites his lower lip, chewing on it as he looks away. It's true that he sometimes wishes they didn't have to worry about Kotetsu's powers, that things weren't the way they are, but… "Don't tell me that things haven't been a little overwhelming. There's been so much on my mind, so much to do now that we're back… so much expected us, of me. So much research I still want to do on my own. And I'm so used to being alone, still, after the last year... Now, it's all different… and trying to change my ways…"

"I'm trying to change mine too," Kotetsu reminds him gently, the hint of a smile finally tugging at his lips. "It's called compromise."

"I know that, and I don't mean to hurt you, but… It's just… how I am sometimes…" Barnaby struggles to find a way to express it.

"Difficult?" Kotetsu finally mutters, but his hands are rising now, pulling Barnaby in tight against him, hoping desperately not to be rejected.

"You'd better be talking about yourself again, yes?" Barnaby mumbles into his shoulder, but he feels an odd sense of relief at the physical contact and at having blown off some of the steam that's been stressing both of them out.

"Please don't stop relying on me," Kotetsu says softly and suddenly into his partner's ear, his face pressed into the curls that he loves. "Even if my time's limited …my heart's not."

"Kotetsu…" Barnaby sighs heavily, returning the hug. His partner gets away with saying so many things that would sound insincere coming from anyone else. They still sound corny. "Why must I always reassure you…"

"It's not reassurance, Bunny," Kotetsu says with a short bark of a laugh, pulling back just far enough to meet his partner's gaze, his eyes twinkling with amusement. "It's called affection."

"But you _know_ that I care."

"It's still nice to hear it."

"Hear what?"

"Something besides '_old man_'?"

"Says the one who never calls me by my own given name."

Kotetsu leans in until they are nose to nose, his voice low and teasing. "_Barnaby_? Is hearing your own name that much of a turn-on?"

"Hmph," Barnaby retorts, his cheeks coloring sharply. "I would have to say it's the other way around or you wouldn't be making such a big deal about it, _Kotetsu_."

A grin splits Kotetsu's face and he slowly backs Barnaby against the glass of the door. "Mmm, say it again."

"Kotetsu?" Barnaby smirks, enjoying the fact that he's right. The tension is leaking away and he can't help but relax, teasing back again. "Or… _partner_?"

"Either, both?" Kotetsu responds, shoving a knee between his partner's legs with a rather predatory expression. "You know… No matter how tough things are, Bunny… the only thing that ever really makes me miserable is you."

"That's not romantic at all," Barnaby complains as Kotetsu leans in, his lips traveling slowly down Barnaby's neck to suck at his pulse point. "I make you miserable? How is that a-"

"When you're distant from me…" Kotetsu whispers into his partner's ear urgently. "Everything in life seems harder... all the stupid little things, they get to me, they get me down. But when we're close, when we're… back to back? …That's when I feel like we could take on anything at all and win."

Another shiver ripples through Barnaby's body, but this time it isn't due to the wind. Kotetsu's body is warm against his everywhere that they touch and over his shoulder, the city lights compete with the stars. He wishes for a moment that he could say something as poetic in response, but then Kotetsu is tilting his chin with one finger, kissing him deeply. Barnaby's mind is quickly blanking, his heart racing, and his body responding to the touch that he trusts most.

They're already half-undressed and Kotetsu makes quick work of the remaining buttons on Barnaby's shirt, tweaking a nipple as he grinds their hips together until the friction through the fabric is almost unbearable. Popping the button on Barnaby's designer pants, Kotetsu grins unapologetically before dragging them off of his partner and sinking down until he is on his knees.

Barnaby is naked on their balcony with the exception of his open and fluttering white shirt, but he can't be bothered to care as he looks down at the half-lidded amber eyes of his partner. His hands drift down loosely around the back of Kotetsu's head, tangling in shaggy hair as his partner takes him into his mouth, swirling and sucking in just the way he knows pleases Barnaby most. "Ko…Kotetsu!" Barnaby chokes out, his knees going weak under the precise assault.

Kotetsu is there to support him, though, and he doesn't let up as he prepares his partner for the inevitable climax of their duel. Rising to his feet, he grins salaciously at Barnaby for a moment, before grabbing his partner's hand and placing it over his own hardness. "Touch me, Bunny, please… I need to know you want me too."

"Kiss me…" Barnaby demands in response, already panting a little as he reaches to fumble with the zipper to his partner's pants. He curls one hand around his partner's length, pulling it free, and then strokes, _hard_, pleased when Kotetsu moans in response.

Only too glad to comply, Kotetsu covers Barnaby's mouth with his own, licking along the insides of his lips as he hoists his partner up against the glass door, hands curling underneath his bare ass to maneuver him into position.

Barnaby wraps his legs around his partner, one hand splayed against the glass for support as Kotetsu thrusts up into him, and their kiss only breaks when he cries out again. "Kotetsu!"

"Bunny!" Kotetsu pants in response as they continue to move against each other, a desperate blur of lips and tongues and hands tasting and teasing and apologizing. Kotetsu jams one hand between them to stroke Barnaby in times with his thrusts, and a moment later, his partner is crying out again, going limp in his arms as he spills himself between them. "Bunny…" Kotetsu hisses in pleasure, kissing his neck where the curls are now damp with sweat. "Love you, Bunny, always…"

"Kotetsu…" Barnaby whispers into his ear, knowing how close the other man is, knowing that only he gets to see Kotetsu in this state of pure and raw emotion. "… _fool_, you know that… that I love you too."

The whispered words are all it takes to send Kotetsu careening off the edge of his own bliss, and he barely manages to remain on his feet as the world spins around them.

It doesn't change the things that are hard.

But it does make what they do every day a little easier.

Being heroes will never be predictable or safe or anything less than complicated and rewarding and frustrating. Living together will never be anything less than frustrating and rewarding and… completely worth it.

Because they both know, without a doubt, that they are simply at their best when together.

Well, definitely at work, and, if they continue to practice this compromising … maybe at home too.


End file.
